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Re: [OS] UK /CT- Anti-terror strategy 'alienates'

Released on 2012-10-19 08:00 GMT

Email-ID

1266641

Date

2010-03-30 13:03:34

From

sean.noonan@stratfor.com

To

analysts@stratfor.com

List-Name

analysts@stratfor.com

I would use this for intelligence gathering too. I think the critics
below have a point that this fits more easily as a 'crime prevention
program' and thus under the Home office.

Klara E. Kiss-Kingston wrote:

Anti-terror strategy 'alienates'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/8593862.stm

Published: 2010/03/30 02:06:14 GMT

By Dominic Casciani
BBC News

The government's strategy to prevent violent extremism has stigmatised
and alienated Muslims it wants to work with, a committee of MPs has
warned.

The communities and local government committee said the Prevent
programme was backfiring and it was difficult to know what good it was
doing.

Millions have been spent on projects aimed at countering al-Qaeda's
threat.

The Department for Communities said it was disappointed the report had
not recognised important reforms.

The Prevent programme is a key part of the government's
counter-terrorism strategy.

Local authorities hand out funding to local groups they think are best
placed to combat al-Qaeda-inspired violent extremism.

PREVENT SPENDING

A. A-L-53m spent 2007 - 2010

A. 94 local authorities given A-L-24m for 2010-11

A. More than 1,000 projects receive Prevent funding

A. Some authorities and groups have refused the cash

In their report, the MPs said that Prevent had tainted many local
projects that would have been otherwise seen as playing an important
role in strengthening communities.

Committee chairwoman Dr Phyllis Starkey said: "We agree that a targeted
strategy must address the contemporary al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist
threat, but we do not believe a government department charged with
promoting cohesive communities should take a leading role in this
counter-terrorism initiative."

The MPs said the government should shift most of Prevent back to the
Home Office, where it started, so that it could be more clearly seen as
a crime prevention scheme.

In turn, the Department for Communities could properly devote itself to
dealing with the underlying causes of all forms of extremism and
division in multi-ethnic Britain, they said.

'Difficult to measure'

Dr Starkey told the BBC that it was very difficult to measure whether
any of Prevent's spending was doing any good at all and that many local
authorities needed more help in running its programmes.

She said that many Muslims suspected they were being spied upon by
Prevent projects and that the government had also sought to engineer a
"moderate" Islam by promoting some groups over others.

A. Prepare: Improve resilience and reduce impact of attacks which
cannot be stopped

"The misuse of terms such as 'intelligence gathering' amongst Prevent
partners has clearly discredited the programme and fed distrust.

"Information required to manage Prevent has been confused with
intelligence gathering undertaken by the police to combat crime and
surveillance used by the security services to actively pursue terrorism
suspects.

"These allegations of spying under Prevent will retain widespread
credibility within some communities until the government commissions an
independent investigation into the allegations."

Shortly after taking over the department last year, Communities
Secretary John Denham said Prevent had suffered from a "lack of
clarity".

He began shifting the emphasis of the entire strategy on extremism,
saying that he wanted to see more targeting of the far-right.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said
it was disappointed that the report had not reflected these changes.

"The government has made clear that all forms of violent extremism must
be tackled and has increased funding to tackle white, racist extremism,"
said the spokesman.

"Prevent is a crime prevention programme aimed at making it less likely
that young people will be drawn in terrorism.

"All Prevent activities are designed to support Muslim communities in
resisting those who target their young people.

"Promoting community cohesion remains a government priority in its own
right but will not be sufficient on its own to tackle those promoting
al-Qaeda-influenced violence."

'Serious failings'

Shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman said the report had
confirmed "our longstanding concern that there are serious failings in
the way the government has used taxpayers' money in this important
policy area".

She added: "It's clear that that too much money has been wasted on
unfocused and irrelevant projects which have created confusion and
increased the risk of alienating the very communities it ought to
engage.

"We need a complete review of the Prevent strategy, with an emphasis on
removing the confusion between counter-terrorism and cohesion work,
shifting the emphasis to funding groups which bring communities together
and ensuring compatibility with fundamental rights and freedoms."